Abstract
BackgroundFruit flesh color in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a great index for evaluating the appearance quality and a key contributor influencing consumers’ preferences. But the molecular mechanism of this intricate trait remains largely unknown. Here, the carotenoids and transcriptome dynamics during the fruit development of cultivated watermelon with five different flesh colors were analyzed.ResultsA total of 13 carotenoids and 16,781 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 1295 transcription factors (TFs), were detected in five watermelon genotypes during the fruit development. The comprehensive accumulation patterns of carotenoids were closely related to flesh color. A number of potential structural genes and transcription factors were found to be associated with the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway using comparative transcriptome analysis. The differentially expressed genes were divided into six subclusters and distributed in different GO terms and metabolic pathways. Furthermore, we performed weighted gene co-expression network analysis and predicted the hub genes in six main modules determining carotenoid contents. Cla018406 (a chaperone protein dnaJ-like protein) may be a candidate gene for β-carotene accumulation and highly expressed in orange flesh-colored fruit. Cla007686 (a zinc finger CCCH domain-containing protein) was highly expressed in the red flesh-colored watermelon, maybe a key regulator of lycopene accumulation. Cla003760 (membrane protein) and Cla021635 (photosystem I reaction center subunit II) were predicted to be the hub genes and may play an essential role in yellow flesh formation.ConclusionsThe composition and contents of carotenoids in five watermelon genotypes vary greatly. A series of candidate genes were revealed through combined analysis of metabolites and transcriptome. These results provide an important data resource for dissecting candidate genes and molecular basis governing flesh color formation in watermelon fruit.
Highlights
Fruit flesh color in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a great index for evaluating the appearance quality and a key contributor influencing consumers’ preferences
At 10 days after pollination (DAP) all fruits were white flesh, there were no significant differences in color space parameters between different genotypes (Additional file 1: Table S1)
The differences in flesh color appeared at the 20 DAP and were more pronounced at 34 DAP in this study
Summary
Fruit flesh color in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a great index for evaluating the appearance quality and a key contributor influencing consumers’ preferences. The carotenoids and transcriptome dynamics during the fruit development of cultivated watermelon with five different flesh colors were analyzed. Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family and is originally cultivated in Africa. Watermelon has become one of the top five freshly consumed fruits, with China at the top in production and consumption of watermelon worldwide. Watermelon flesh contains many nutrients, such as lycopene, citrulline, and other health-promoting compounds related to the human diet [1]. Carotenoids are necessary for human life and health [2, 3]. Lycopene has been reported to be involved in the prevention of cancers and cardiovascular diseases [4]. The alphacarotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, and beta-carotene are the main precursors of vitamin A [5], which plays an essential role in vision protection [6]
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